70%ludite

Sensational stuff.Glad to see you have let them swim again to breed another day.Would be a bit hard to do if there heads were nailed to a tree as in days gone by.I am sure you have put in a lot of time working how to catch them and you are now getting the results.Congratulations. cheers...............Roy

Just got back from fishing in the basin sadly no photos as i was having camera problems turned out to be the memory card. We decided to fish what i now call Roys lagoon as it didnt have a name on the way to our accomadation.My mate hadnt caught a flatty on a pencil before and it didnt take him long to have a 52cm model on in 2 feet of water.Was released to fight another day.Decided to put on my favourite one eyed nw penciland i preceded to bring in 2 mid 40 flattys things were looking good.Then i caught 2 nice whiting up towards the 40cm mark.They are fast becoming my favourite fish to catch.They put up a great fight with huge runs. Booked into our accomadation and thomo got catch of the day a treble into the finger bone.The marias make lovely finger jewelry. After much yanking he got it out and no trip to the docs.Went for a quick chuck in the river and what looked like being a donut turned into what i thought was a huge whiting ended up being a tailor and with 4lb flouro leader goneski to my favourite nw pencil after 4 aerial leaps. Up at the crack of dawn and into the basin proper for more wading.This time waste deep and it was slow.Took a fair while but we finally found a few whiting and once again they were all quality cant seem to catch any small ones on the pencils. Back for a quick brekky then back to Roys lagoon.Water was super clear and it was tough brilliant sun and spooky fish in 2 ft of water.A couple more flattys and a few more whiting then time to go home.In all a succesful trip but the fish seemed to be harder to come by than i hoped maybe i have such high expectations of the basin.Cant wait to return. cheers............Roy

The ci4 is a beautiful little reel has a nice drag.Got mine paired with a ian miller bream buster is a great balanced combo.The pflueger trion would go a treat i have one paired with an okuma v system c14 would go with it nicely. cheers.........Roy

Hey Mako nice catch there looks like you had a great day.Just out of curiosity the scum dog you were using what was the weight ? On the website they are advertised as 3.7 gms but i saw some in the shop and they were 2.5gms way to light for me.Wondered if they came in 2 sizes. cheers...........Roy

No havent had a crack with the marias again.Be taking the split rings off soon.But will get them wet again.They have to work look the goods. cheers.....Roy

Report is a day late but been busy.Fished my local yesterday affectionately known as Lake Dissapointment. But is now starting to be Lake Hopefull.Drifted up the channel in the pro angler on the rising tide.And hung a right over the sea grass beds.The water is so shallow in places that you cant peddle and have to rely on the tide to get you moving.Chucked the pencils around and landed 6 bream best 2 being 34cm and 34cm. Dropped a few and had a heap of slurps such an awesome sound.All released to fight another day and hopefully dodge the nets. cheers.......Roy k

Thanks having issues with photos being the ludite i am.Got the minister for war and finance onto things. Should be able to get some more up tomorrow. cheers...........Roy

Havent posted a fishing report for quite awhile so here goes.Went down to Sussex Inlet for a few days from Saturday. Didnt have the best start to find my Shimano jewel missing from the pro angler on arrival.Must of flown out on the way down not impressed. The wind gods were not kind the noreaster was howling had a quick throw sat evening for a donut wasnt looking good. Sun morning same as Sat wind blew all night had to change plans and drove back to the basin to find a small lagoon i have fished before and could get the wind behind my back.Got one stonker whiting and a mullet on nw pencil.Saw a few whiting as the whole place is lucky to be no deeper than waste deep.Decided to return later on and give some poppers ago as i cant catch a thing on them. Fished for 1 hr and nothing so went back to the pencil.First cast a 52cm flatty and to prove it was no fluke 4 more in the mid 40s and a smallish bream.Must make mental note dont bother with poppers. Bouyed by this success was planning a triumphal return the next day but another wind change made me change plans.Big southerly change overnight so went into the basin proper you can walk out 300 yards and its waste deep.Second cast a big hit and long fight to reveal a 35cm blackfish amazing what these pencils can catch.Preceded to catch another 3 good whiting and 4 bream was an amazing session. That night the heavens opened up and didnt stop so we pulled the plug and came home.By the way all fish released to fight another day.Just hope i can post the pictures up. cheers.....Roy

Hey Bloopin ended up buying 4.I got the the yellow,pink,clear with black stripes and a greeny back one.Didnt catch anything on them but they cast a mile.Will have to take off the split ring and give them ago again.Wasnt as if there were no fish i caught stacks on a NW pencil and was mixing it up with jazzs as well.But everytime i put the pencil back on i was on so to speak.Will keep persevering.Good luck with your trip let us know how you go..... cheers............Roy

Thanks Musty wasnt sure how these sit in the water as some of the pencils are bottom heavy and thought the split ring may of affected that.But being a reputable japanese brand i am sure they have done it for a purpose.Looking forward to see how far they go acroos the flats with the extra weight. I have got 5 days down the basin from this weekend so they will be up against my other pencils for comparison.Will let you know how they go. cheers....Roy

Just wandering if anyone has used the maria pencils.They are the first pencils that i have bought that have a split ring on them.Wanted to know how they affect the performance walking the dog ? Other than that they look the goods.55mm in length and weighing in at 5gms.Should be great on the flats. Be interesting to see how they stack up against the nw pencils,jazzs and baby rovers.They say they cast like a bullet and with the weight they should be right. cheers.....Roy

Have a look at the shimano jewel.I have the 7"6 in the 1 to 3kg.Not to bad for the price.If you can afford a few bucks more the lox also do same length and weight.Not sure but i think there is a trion in the 7"6 range but may take a bit of tracking down. cheers.....Roy

I have been going through the same thing mainly to get the extra distance casting pencils on the flats. Guess its the old adage length is everything.But it does help in clear shalllow water when its easy to spook the fish. I have bought a few 1 to 3kg rods in the 7"6 range and have basically the same reels as you.But try dropping down to 4lb line and using 4lb leader. If your out in the open there is little chance of getting bricked.All you have to do is use a light drag and have a bit of patience.Just play the fish and he will tire let the rod and reel do the work. Hope this helps as i am still experimenting.And give the pencils ago its the best. cheers............Roy

Great fish but there not one offs.Big E caught one 44cm to the fork 2 weeks ago and was a pending ANSA record. And someone from Sydney caught a 50cm model to the tail in 3foot of water on a hard body with the local fishing guide. Both released to fight another day.Wonder how old the ages on these fish are. It just goes to prove the benefits of closing waters to proffesional fishing the basin has been firing and its great to see such quality fish caught and released.

Thank you Slinky for your prompt reply.Cleared things up.By way of interest how do you find someone who is qualified to carry out servicing and repairs so your warranty is not voided ? cheers...........Roy

I was wondering if anyone could tell me if it is safe to put the oil supplied with the Shimano reels in the small side port.I have two Stradics and a Ci4 and a Sustain they all have a small port on the side. If i remember rightly they call it a maintenance port.The reason i ask is if you put oil in this port does it go into the gears and mix with the grease which i assume would be a bad combination. If you can put oil in the port where does it go and what parts does it lubricate ? And if you cant put oil in this port what can you put in.Should i just use the oil for the shaft and reel handle etc..... Cheers.....Roy

Stippy i had been having this problem as well especially on some of the worm type plastics as they are so long.I tied a size 6 mosquito hook (gamakatsu)on to the tag end. Length varies for the type of plastic.Just feed it through a few times and then have the hook point pushed through the plastic. I am still experimenting but it seems to be working okay with the turtleback worms and weedless hooks in snaggy areas.

Breamchaser check your pms cheers Ray

check your pms cheers ray

Hey Ross Those new engines look the goods i hope they give you many hours of trouble free fishing. Checked out the pics of our trip i love the pic of my massive pig.Some great fish on the other trips to. Was hoping to get to Pt Stephens next year may have to get there 2011.Hope to be able to fish with you again soon a pleasure to have been on your boat. Ray and young James

Hey Ross I got James to send you some of the photos he took. Being the ludite i am i couldnt get any up on here. Let me know if you got them.Hope you can use them. cheers Ray

Hello Ross and Emu Thanks for agreat day out James and i had a fantastic time.What more can you ask for whales breaching,dolphins basking,James turning green,great songs and yes a stack load of fish. Hope to be able to get James to stop bragging bout his snapper and get him to download some of the photos he took including my record pigfish.Also thanks to Alidair and Kenny and Ronny long prong Hope to be able to travel with you again Ross be my pleasure. Thanks again Ray and James

No worries let me know how you go.Been a bit of rain down here so the creeks will be a bit dirty. Try early morning and late in the arvo.If you walk up to the weir from the road bridge you may even pick up a bass but watch the electric fences.

Try fishing in macquarie rivulet for bream.You can get down below the railway bridge there has been a few fish being caught.Or you can go over to the Tallawarra power station and walk along the breakwall heading out and fish either side depending on the wind.If you want to venture further go to mullet creek.But the pros have started netting already.Make sure you fish very light and and just use some fresh prawns or live nippers or my favourite blood worms.Good luck.

Late report but fished the shoalhaven again yesterday. After an hours drive down from wollongong and dead still conditions was greeted with gale force winds. Headed down to Greenwell point anyway hoping to find a place out of the wind. Did manage to find a bit of relief from the wind next an oyster lease and caught 4 nice flatties but got smashed by the midgies. Parked the boat and grabbed a burger.The wind dropped off and had a great session.Caught another 4 fish to 54cm and had a great time drifting over the flats. Definetly made up for the times of a few fish.All were caught on siver fox with the tails painted red.But lost quite a few tails to the resident tailor population. Hoping to get down to st georges basin soon in search of the elusive 1metre model.